Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Newark

The Becket Fund works to insure that when governments grant accommodations for non-religious purposes they provide the same exemptions for religious purposes as well.  In this case, the City of Newark issued an order requiring police officers to be clean-shaven. However, it exempted those who had medical reasons for not shaving but offered no exemption for religious reasons.  Two Muslim officers who are required by their faith to wear beards were thus forced by the city to choose between their religion and their jobs.  They instead asked a federal district court to disburden them from making this unconstitutional choice.  In June 1998 Becket Fund president Seamus Hasson argued the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on behalf of an amici party that included the ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League.    

On March 3, 1999, the Third Circuit unanimously ruled in favor of the officers, holding that Newark's policy violated their religious freedom rights under the First Amendment.  Then-Judge Samuel Alito found that city’s grooming policy created a “categorical exemption for individuals with a secular objection but not for individuals with a religious objection,” and was thus liable to the highest form of scrutiny, which the city failed to satisfy.     

Major Dates and Filings

• May 4, 1998 Brief amicus curiae filed.
• June 25, 1998 Argument before the Third Circuit.
• March 3, 1999 Third Circuit's Decision.
• July 1, 1999 Brief in Opposition filed in the Supreme Court.
• October 4, 1999 Petition for Certiorari denied.

Articles & News Items

• "Becket Fund Defends Muslim Police Officers' Right to Wear Beards," June 22, 1998
• "Muslim Police Officers Can Keep Their Beards," March 4, 1999
• "U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Religious Beard Case," October 4, 1999